An extended shifter just means the shift handle is longer than stock. That can make shifting feel different—often more comfortable or easier to place the gears.
Billet accessories are aftermarket parts made from solid metal and machined into shape. They’re often chosen because they look high-end and can be made to fit your car’s style.
A rear wheel seal is a rubber/metal seal that keeps fluid from leaking near the rear wheel. If the seal isn’t the right size, it may not seal properly and you’ll keep getting leaks.
Axle seals are the seals that stop oil from leaking around the axle. If they wear out or don’t fit right, you can see leaks and mess around the rear end.
Viton is a special rubber material used for seals. It tends to last longer in hot, oily conditions, which helps the seal keep working instead of hardening and leaking.
An aftermarket piston is a piston made to replace the stock one, usually for performance or specific engine builds. The key point is that the piston size has to match your engine’s setup.
“Real street” is a type of drag racing where the cars are meant to be more like normal street cars, not full-on race machines. The race director helps run the event—making sure the rules are followed and everything stays organized and safe.
They’re saying most of the races are happening at Barona Dragstrip. If you’re going to an event like this, the track location is a big deal for planning and for how the racing day runs.
Drag racing is a straight-line motorsport where cars compete over a short distance, typically focusing on acceleration and traction. In the context of “real street,” it’s the core discipline that the program organizes around.
“Webbers” are a type of carburetor brand (Weber). People upgrade to them on classic VWs because they can help the engine run smoother and be easier to tune.
Concept
easiest upgrade
They’re talking about the idea that some upgrades are “easy” and make the car feel better right away. On older VWs, simple changes like carburetors can be one of those quick wins.
Dual carbs means the engine gets fuel/air through two carburetors. That can make the engine respond quicker and pull harder, especially when you rev it.
The segment discusses multiple classic Beetles (Volkswagen Type 1) as the platform for their builds. The speaker’s first VW is a 1965 Beetle, and later they mention another Beetle build, showing how the Beetle chassis/engine combo is the foundation for street-racing-style upgrades.
Cylinder heads are the top engine components that house the intake/exhaust ports and valves, and they strongly influence airflow and power. The speaker says the machinist brought cylinder heads and later had heads ported for a 1600 build, which is a major step in making a VW engine breathe better.
“Porting” cylinder heads means reshaping the intake/exhaust passages to improve airflow. On VW engines, good porting can increase power by reducing flow restrictions, especially when paired with the right cam/valvetrain and carb/exhaust setup.
“High rev springs” are valve springs designed to control valve float at higher RPM. The speaker says they used “single high rev springs,” implying a valvetrain setup intended to safely rev more than stock for performance driving.
The segment mentions being told to buy an exhaust to complement the head and valvetrain changes. Exhaust upgrades work together with carburation and porting by improving how easily spent gases exit, which can help power and RPM capability.
Carbon fiber parts are lightweight composite components used to reduce mass and improve performance and handling response. In this segment, they’re described as “top secret” and tied to a handoff, suggesting a build focused on weight savings and racing credibility.
A “drag bug” is a Volkswagen Beetle built specifically for drag racing—typically with weight reduction, gearing changes, and traction-focused setups. Here it’s referenced as the kind of car featured on Pinks, tying the VW street scene to the drag-racing world.
“Fuchs” are a type of aftermarket wheel design that looks like classic Porsche wheels. People put them on VWs because they look great and give the car a more classic, sporty stance.
The Ford Mustang is a performance car made by Ford, usually with a strong V8 engine. People talk about the 5.0-liter version a lot because it’s a common choice for making more power. It’s often chosen for racing and modifications.
They’re referencing the movie franchise as a reason more people got interested in cars and street-racing culture. It made the whole “build your car” vibe more mainstream.
They’re saying a lot of the cars were painted only with primer, not full paint yet. That usually means the cars were still being worked on and improved.
They’re describing how the car clubs are about people helping each other. Instead of everyone working alone, they share parts and help build cars together.
Term
2332
“2332” is a common shorthand in air-cooled VW circles for an engine displacement configuration (often a 2332cc build). It indicates a specific performance-oriented stroker-style setup rather than a stock displacement.
Porting the heads is like cleaning up and reshaping the engine’s air passages so it can breathe better. It often helps the engine make more power, but it has to be done with the rest of the engine plan in mind.
Tuning means adjusting how the engine computer runs the engine—like how much fuel and when to spark. A good tune helps the car run strong and smoothly instead of running rough or risky.
Term
super 1600 class
A “Super 1600” class is a displacement-based racing category (1600cc) with rules that typically limit what modifications are allowed. The conversation frames it as a class they tried to make work, but where the competition and costs can still become intense.
Term
90 millimeter NPR
“90 millimeter NPR” appears to refer to a specific engine component size/spec used in these builds—most likely related to a turbo/induction hardware dimension (commonly discussed in VW/air-cooled and turbo build circles). The key takeaway is that these competitors are using very large, performance-oriented hardware to chase extremely quick times.
A “two-liter” engine means the total cylinder volume is around 2.0 liters. The point here is that even with that limited size, the cars can still run very fast.
Concept
pump-gas times (running 11s / equivalent to running tens)
The segment compares elapsed times (“11s,” “tens”) and emphasizes that these results are being achieved on pump gas. This is essentially a discussion of how fuel type and rule constraints affect performance and why the times are impressive.
Roller cams use a rolling contact surface (instead of sliding contact) to reduce friction and allow more aggressive valve timing/lift. The rules here prohibit roller cams, which forces competitors to use more traditional cam setups and keeps performance more controlled.
IDA refers to a carburetor setup, and “48” is the size. The rules are basically saying you have to use a specific carb configuration so nobody can cheat with a bigger or freer-flowing setup.
A “real street” class is a racing category where the rules are meant to keep cars more street-like. Instead of unlimited race parts, they restrict things like fuel and engine specs so everyone competes on a more even playing field.
A “conflict of interest” is when someone’s personal involvement could bias decisions they’re responsible for. Here, the speaker describes how running the class while also racing can create perceived or real favoritism concerns, which is why integrity and rule enforcement matter.
Concept
minimum weight vs engine configuration (stroke)
This segment describes a class-balancing approach where competitors with different engine setups (like different stroke lengths) must meet different minimum vehicle weights. The goal is to equalize performance so no single combination dominates, which is common in “real street” style racing classes with rule-based handicapping.
Car
stock Volkswagen
They’re using a stock Volkswagen as a reference point for weight. The point is to show how race cars can be much lighter or heavier than a normal, unmodified car.
“82 stroke” means the engine’s piston travel is set to a specific stroke size (82 mm). In their rules, that number changes what minimum weight the car has to run.
“86 stroke” is a longer piston travel setting (86 mm). In their rules, longer stroke builds are assigned a higher minimum weight.
Car
turbo notch
They’re talking about a Volkswagen Notchback that has a turbo added. The point is that some racers don’t just build huge engines—they use smaller internal dimensions to spin faster and make power.
They discuss how the class has evolved into a more competitive environment, which can lead to fewer races or interruptions when teams “lose their stuff” (likely meaning parts, cars, or sponsorship/availability). This is a common reality in grassroots motorsports where rule changes and escalating budgets affect participation.
A “turbo class” is a racing category for cars that use a turbocharger. They’re grouped separately because turbos change how the car accelerates compared to cars without turbos.
They mention “Doug Bergs Memorial” as a real event people go to. The conversation about racing classes and rules comes from what they talked about there.
“Time index” is when the race is based on hitting a target time, not just being the quickest. People tune their cars and driving to land close to that target.
Concept
weight limitations
“Weight limitations” means the rules may require cars to be within a certain weight range. That helps keep one car from having an unfair advantage just because it’s heavier or lighter.
Fuel cooling means racers try to make the fuel colder before it goes into the engine. Colder fuel can help the engine run more safely and sometimes make more power.
A “rule book” in motorsports isn’t just about safety—it defines what’s allowed, what’s prohibited, and how tech is policed. Teams often build their cars around both the explicit rules and how officials interpret them during scrutineering/inspection.
Nitrous lines are the tubes that carry nitrous oxide from the bottle to the engine. When it’s injected, it can give the engine a temporary power boost.
A manifold is a set of passages that routes gases to the engine’s cylinders. If nitrous is used, it’s often aimed at the intake side so it mixes with the air going into the cylinders.
“Scaled” here means the cars are weighed on a scale before runs. In many racing classes, weight affects eligibility and performance comparisons, so scaling is part of the technical inspection process.
This is a kind of racing where the cars are handled more like normal street cars. The organizers do rules and checks before racing so everyone is competing on a level playing field.
They check the fuel and then seal the tank so nobody can change it after inspection. It also forces teams to plan how much gas they’ll need so they don’t run out mid-event.
They do a cruise as part of the event before racing. Because the cruise distance is limited, teams have to plan fuel carefully for the drive back and the races.
Teams figure out how much gas they’ll need for the whole event. Using less fuel can help because it weighs more, but you still have to make it without running out.
A “water box” is a spot on the drag strip where they spray water before you launch. It helps the tires get traction so the car can get moving without spinning its wheels as much.
“Pro Eliminator” is a type of drag race where you race another car directly, and if you lose you’re out. The cars are grouped by rules so everyone is competing in a similar category.
A “trophy class” is a racing category where people compete for trophies. It usually has its own rules, and you get recognized based on how you place in that group.
“Race of champions” is usually a special event where strong drivers or winners get invited. In this case, they say it only ran one year before being canceled.
“Barrier to entry” just means what makes it hard for regular people to join in. In racing, it’s usually money and rules—like track fees and getting your car ready.
“Test and tune” sessions are practice runs where drivers can dial in their setup—tires, suspension, and tire pressures—before racing. They’re common at drag strips and road courses because they reduce uncertainty and help teams learn what the car is doing.
They’re talking about “Street Outlaws,” which is a street-racing show. The idea is that when the show comes around, it can bring racing to a specific area.
They’re talking about how expensive it is to rent a race track and put on an event. Even if people want to go, the math can be tough if the entry fees don’t cover the track and staffing costs.
They’re saying it can be cheaper to run your event as part of someone else’s bigger event. That way you share the track time and setup instead of paying for everything alone.
They’re describing how race tracks get shut down or sold off, so it becomes harder to find places to race. When tracks disappear, organizers have fewer options and events get more expensive or less frequent.
A drag strip is the straight track used for drag racing—cars line up and race down the strip to see who’s fastest. They’re noting that even if some parts are gone, drag racing infrastructure may still be there.
A circle track is an oval-style track where cars race around and around, turning through corners. They’re comparing it to drag racing, which is straight-line.
Fontana is a place in California that used to have a major racing venue. They’re saying the track was removed, likely because the land became too valuable.
“Real street spec” means the car is built to race, but it’s still meant to be a normal street car. The event usually has rules so it can’t be a full-on race-only machine.
They’re talking about race classes where the car’s weight matters. Sometimes they even count the driver’s weight so heavier cars aren’t automatically at a disadvantage.
They’re saying the car has a manual 5-speed. That helps it drive smoothly on the street while still being usable for racing.
LIVE
Happy Friday, guys, and welcome to another episode of Let's Talk Dubs.
I'm your host, Bill T. Well, if you're paying attention to social media and you've seen
everything, we went ahead and did a hard rollout for registration for one crazy weekend.
That's right.
There's 400 spaces available, and that's it.
Plenty of room for people that don't want to bring a show cart and just hang out for
the weekend.
Trust me.
There's tons of room.
Get your room booked.
Fly out, come out, hang out.
There's going to be plenty of people for you guys to kick it with, so don't feel like you'll
be stranded at the hotel for the strip crews or any of that kind of stuff, man, because
it's one big VW get-along, and everybody is having a great time and willing to bring people
on with them to the strip crews, the poker and all kinds of stuff.
It's really the place where the VW community comes to make friends and build relationships,
long-term, lifelong friendship.
So if you've been thinking about going, now's your chance to go.
I may say set something up for people that fly out for the event that want to partake
in some of the stuff, so I might put a shirt package together and stuff so that you can
pre-purchase and you also get a wristband so that you can take advantage of the discounts
and stuff at the hotel that they offer with respect to dining and some of those things.
So look forward to that here the next week or two.
So other than that, you'll also notice I put out a video this week with Iron Fort Shifters.
So Iron Fort Shifters, Iron Fort is a machine company down in Brazil.
They were here for SEMA show and we kind of got together.
We chatted a little bit and he left me with a bunch of products to try out and I've been
dragging my feet to get it going, but I finally got it kicked up and swapped out that Iron
Fort Shifter.
And I got to tell you, it's a high quality shifter and he's asked me to start distributing
the shifter.
So if you check out my Instagram video, you'll see the shifter.
That's the extended shifter.
It's got the super long handle.
There's also one with a shorter one.
I've got one that's going to be going to the square back soon as soon as I put the carpet
in and some stuff like that.
So make sure you guys keep an eye out for that coming up also on social media.
So look for those to be available on Let's Talk Dubbs' website.
I was looking for somebody else to be a distributor for them, but hey, if no one's going to come
to the table for them, I will.
But if you're interested in being a distributor for Iron Fort Shifters, reach out to me and
I can connect you with Iron Fort and you can sell their shifters here in the U.S.
I've also got pedal covers, other billet accessories that they make for the Volkswagen.
So great connection to have and if you're one of those guys with tons of ideas, you'll
never know.
It's always good to have a machine shop in your back pocket.
So anyway, guys, don't forget, support those that support Let's Talk Dubbs, VW Trends Magazine.
Not the same old stuff, four issues a year.
Subscribe today at VWTrendsMagazine.com.
Go get it.
That's the only place where you can see Zorba the Gia is in VWTrends Magazine.
So go subscribe today at VWTrendsMagazine.com.
Also Ross Wolf, high quality aftermarket parts.
Four enthusiasts buying enthusiasts, go check out today.
They just came out with a new rear wheel seal that's ensured that you're not going to leak
because of the proper sizing dimensions of the original factory.
Some places when they get out of stock, they just get the next closest seal and put it
in there and that's kind of what the VW community has been suffering with over the past few
years.
So Jared and Jason went and did some investigating, found out what the original spec and size was
for original wheel seals and they've put a kit together.
So stop all your leaking.
Stop your axle seals leaking.
Stop your engine leaking.
Get the Viton seals.
These guys are trying to do something better for our scene.
So go check them out today at RossWolf.com.
Icon Pistons.
If you want the highest quality aftermarket piston built, pick yourself up a set of icon
pistons available in 85.5, 92 and 94 millimeter.
You can check those out.
They're available at typeemotorsports.com.
Click the link in the description below to get yourself the highest quality set of aftermarket
pistons you can get for your Volkswagen icon pistons.
Well this week we had a guest in the studio, my buddy Dino Mendoza.
He happens to be the race director for the real street racing program and he's been in
charge of that for the past few years and we talk about his obviously his Volkswagen
story in addition to that, what it was like becoming the race director and the challenges
that lie within that position.
So it's an interesting story.
There's a lot going on and hopefully we can, you guys will get a little more insight.
We get some more people out there to check out the real street.
They're doing several races this year and most of them are going to be down in Barona,
California and then there's going to be one taking place.
I think they're going to have the final, my understanding is they're going to have a class
in November at Bakersfield but for now it's April 26th, July 12th and October 31st all
taking place at Barona Dragstrip.
So I look forward to that and support those guys and let's see some racing.
So good podcast, a lot of insight and a little bit of inside baseball going on in the real
street scene.
So without any further ado guys, let's get into it this week.
Dino Mendoza with real street on let's talk dubs.
Okay everybody so on today's show I got a special guest that you know we've been as
enthusiasts that kind of are in the show scene and we enjoy the events and all that stuff.
One of the things that makes it really exciting is drag racing, one of the biggest drag racing
things that's been going on for quite a while has been the real street.
Unfortunately with a lot of tracks and stuff like that closing it's been kind of a struggle
to get that up and going and I've been trying to do my part to get as much as I can with
with real street information out there so people can kind of follow along and all that stuff.
But on today's podcast I got a special guest I got Dino Mendoza and he's the race director
of the real street racing series that they have here in Southern California.
Dino, welcome to podcast.
Thanks for having me.
Hey bro so we've been trying to do this by the way happy birthday today's your birthday.
The big 5-0 that's you made it right a lot of people didn't think this day would come
when you was growing up and you know so we're gonna get into real street we're gonna get to
all that stuff but the way we always start the podcast is what's your VW story and how did you
get into Volkswagen's?
I got into Volkswagen's in the early 90s late 80s.
When my uncle Sal had a 68 bug it was silver and it was it was a cool car I just took
interest to it you know and being a hot wheel collector right from from young you know.
Are you are you into Hot Wheels?
Yes I have probably about 7,000 hot wheels.
We're gonna talk about that we'll transition to that a little bit of that too.
And so you're you're into Hot Wheels your uncle's got a cool car.
Cool 68 you know like I didn't know anything about years or any any of that kind of stuff and
after a while after a few years he handed it down to my my other uncle his younger brother
Fish and he painted it black and I used to see him work on it I used to go out there and
help him ranch on it and and I remember one of these times he was like here's 60 bucks go
outside and go give this guy he's going to give you some carburetors and then we're going to put
him on yeah I was like all right I didn't know anything you know at that time and there were
44 webbers we put him on and the engine started making this weird noise and I was like he's like
get in let's go to we went around the block and that thing was just like I was I was right then
that's it that's it that's all it took yeah it's funny you know like like the easiest upgrade on
a Volkswagen is go from single carbon dual carbs and just the noise like I think the kit that'll
get you addicted to racing right is a stinger and dual carbs you put that on a 1600 bro all
the sudden the thing's a race car like in your head you're like bro this thing's the fastest thing
ever but but it's kind of how it gets going so when do you buy your first Volkswagen uh actually
my first Volkswagen was gifted to me oh really yeah they gave me a 65 some some buddies from
Southgate yeah and uh but at that point I wasn't ready to ranch or nothing so it sat for like
quite some time yeah and my grandma's yeah and she's like you gotta do something with that or get
it out of here so I ended up just giving it away really yeah and I ended up buying another bug
off of one of my buddies and it was a 65 in 2276 oh nice who built the motor uh it was a
Chung Woo built motor Chung Woo I don't know who is who is Chung Woo I don't know because I know
he's kind of a guy that does motors yeah I'm there well he's he's one of the baddest headquarters
oh is he yes really I should get him on a podcast is he he's a I'm assuming he's an Asian guy with
he's born here he's if you see him you think he's doesn't know English and once you hear him talk to
you like so does it so is he just a Volkswagen guy or he ports all heads uh he was actually a
machinist he worked over at GX oh really yeah he was huh that GX for for many years and it's funny
how I met him was I was at my buddy's house and we used to see him drive by out and rose me every
every almost every day and uh white 67 and one day he just stopped and just started talking to us
and uh he brought some cylinder heads we didn't know what we were looking at that time you know
they're poor days like oh yeah I poured heads and and he talked my buddy into porting some heads
on the 1600 he ported the heads put uh single high rev springs uh he told him to buy this exhaust
and 40 DeLardos and oh that car was we were whooping on 1835s they're like dude there's no way
that's too it's a 1600 yeah and too ever since then it's just snowballed into just bigger and
better stuff yeah so the first car your first car is what what what car what year was it a 65
and then the car you have today uh it's a 62 right the 62 right the carbon deuce the carbon deuce
done okay so I when I saw you last year at the DKK meet that we that we had and that's where I kind
of met carbon Joe the first time then carbon Joe ended up he was he was there was a handoff of some
top secret uh carbon fiber parts that were taking place when I kind of interrupted the two of you
guys and uh and you got some pretty dope carbon fiber stuff on the car so you kind of get your
taste of racing at this point how does this evolve into so do you with that first car you get
do you you just street racing that car do you start taking to the track no I actually I just
just hanging out with the the fellas you know racing some of the you know Honda guys back then
you know I was a Honda guy too but my my roots are with the Volkswagen's you know right but so
did you were you around do you remember when when they had the pinks race with the the loffers
and that Honda there was a Honda guy out of Arizona and so remember the TV show pinks yeah yeah
things so did you ever see the one with the loffers in that drag bug the red one yeah the red
yeah yeah yeah so they did it they did two two two episodes yeah on the second episode we were
talking on the ride over here what I so my business is T brothers tile is my tile company
and if you look at the second picture in the poster that car it's got two T brothers tile
stickers over the headlights because I sent him a couple stickers and a couple hundred bucks
to rebuild the car but I remembered listening on the on the because it was it was volksbash
radio at the time yeah that we listened to for like the the live stream of that stuff or whatever
the case was before the show aired and you know that kind of stuff in that era around that era
because I used to go to the street races back in probably it's got to be 94 94 and 94 to 96
maybe a little bit earlier than that but we'd go and I had a had a 1904 and I had my written
before my silver bug was it was red and white and it like kind of you know that 90s two-tone
look and then I had fuchs on it and a roof rack and I go to the street races and I race must I just
pick mustangs I like to get five liter mustangs and then a couple years I bailed out of it and
then I came back they started doing street races around here and I showed up doing this like this
is after fast and furious stuff comes out and there's like four four door Hondas lined up I'm
like bro I gotta I gotta get out of here what's going on so it was kind of a different it was
kind of a different scene yeah in the late 90s as you know the the fast and furious comes out and
then all of a sudden every guy grabs his mom's Honda and shows up at the thing and there's
some fast Hondas out there yeah but there's also there's also the Volkswagen that I always
been the original import car you know what I mean it's the people's car right and so now you get
so do you stay in the hobby for a long time or do you dip out for a little bit or I dipped out a
little bit you know I got a little sidetrack you know you know I'm cleaning sober now 16 years but
you know I fought congratulations I trials and through trials and tribulations you know I
I did what it took to to get my get my life back together on track you know yeah and
so yeah I started I started getting back into the scene and around what time do you start
get back in the scene right after uh F and J was about to close down they were in Downey
yeah packing Freddie shop yeah vogue style they've been my buddies since back in the day I've been
supporting vogue styles and man all the cars were primer I remember going down like with
her boulevard with like 30 Volkswagen's and only ones painted you know but it's right it's a camaraderie
yeah yeah that's the fun part is enjoying the car it's it's the coming up right like it's all the
guys like guys helping each other build cars and trading parts and doing all the stuff because
everybody's just trying to get to that next level yeah and and and and from the club scene like
that's the fun part of the club scene but then they're always with clubs up there's always ends
up being a little bit of drama kind of comes out of somewhere because there's always like that
that one guy and the tough part in clubs is like there's always the core guys there's no matter
what these are the core guys and there's always people to kind of come and go whatever but uh
so you're down with the vogue style guys kicking and now is lizard part of that crew yeah lizard
so so all that stuff uh you're into that stuff you get a Volkswagen as you did back in the scene
do you pick up the 62 rag right then no I picked up uh actually uh a 61 convertible from packy
that I redid we did the whole pan primer did big 2332 by Chungwoo you know 234 so Chungwoo
your you know you know pretty good as the buddy yours Chungwoo has been one of my buddies for
very long time I might have to get him on the podcast right and he uh would port my heads
build my engines tune the engines all I did was drive yeah so you know not being too good you
know with tuning the car and stuff you know drive the wheels to the wheels fall off right but he was
my guy you know you know we did have a little falling out you know oh yeah but you know I had
another ace up my sleeve Sean Gears yeah you know and he's so how do you meet Sean how how do you
get to so at this point you get the convertible are you racing this car are you starting to get
into the racing because the racing is kind of been going up and down and they've tried everything
to get it going right to try the super 1600 class that Fred Simpson did they tried so many things
to kind of get it because what happens with and you see it happening now right in real street
those cars are not cheap no you got the class killers you got the guys with the deep pockets
you have the average guys right and then you have the guys it's super competitive it is super fun
yeah but you know once you're out of that water box you know you're ain't it's a battle it's a dog
fight right right and uh it's just cool seeing it evolve you know and how do you so how do you
meet Sean Gears and those guys so I met Sean when I had a falling out with Sean
I just asked for my stuff you know I asked for my stuff and I took it I took it to Sean
and you just know Sean from being in the scene being around from being with working with him
and and Sean okay there were there were my two aces you know right right yeah and now you get with
Sean and then how does the whole because the real street thing was popping in the early 2000s I think
Steve Weidman some of those guys were involved in the original was it called real street it was
no it was real street it was real street and then it because they would do it here in Vegas right
they had to do like a they I think I believe they drove from Cali yeah these guys now they
they're not they're not that didn't happen yeah no now they're on a fine line you know right on
the razor's edge of like yeah these cars are wicked fast they're running you know high sixes
with pump gas yeah what was you know it's crazy as I'm listening to the Lyle Cherry podcast that
we're talking about like all all these motors that they're building they got 90 millimeter NPR
pistons you know what I mean like small pistons small stroke I mean these guys are doing two
liter motors and they're running 11's and they're you know they're running 11's but again you're
talking they're ringing its neck these aren't drivers like yeah but but this is back in those
days I mean those cars are two liters and they're just they're just running 11 seconds and stuff like
that now these cars are equivalent to running tens now on pump gas on pump gas which is which is
wild and there's rules and regulations that they got to follow you know 86 stroke is the biggest
94 bore is the biggest you know there's no roller cams you know it has to be a 48 IDA
there's no 51s there's no 50s so when real street so real streets happen early 2000s and then it
kind of fades away and then how are you involved with the guys that bring it back and all that
kind of stuff or is that already kind of going when you get involved I was like around I wasn't
part of like creating the rules or you know that part but I was part of helping you know
run the class I was I was just helping it was David David Ruiz and I believe his name is Michael
Mann and he kind of dipped out I don't know what happened there he dipped out and then just became
conflict of interest with David being running the class and being and racing yeah right so
you know I met with with David and Ron Fleming since he's the the race coordinator for with
bugging and and the whole deal and they asked me if I would take over the class and I was like
I'll do it you know and then your and then your job can't went from being friendly with everybody
to like look I gotta do a job my job is to make sure because the problem is when you're in charge
that stuff is your integrity on the line like yeah you can't show favoritism to anybody
exactly that's gotta be on the money like and you know a lot of them are my friends you know I know
a lot of them and have created relationships with them but when it comes down to it I'm for
real street right I represent real street now let's go over some of the let's just break down the
rules of the real street class so the real street class is is pump gas pump gas 2270s 2276 we have
2332 there's two different sizes actually there's three different weights to the bigger displacement
heavier car yes depending on your stroke you can weigh from 1725 to 1825 okay so it's a hundred
hundred dollars a hundred pounds difference yeah so 1725 would be with a 2276 yes and then 1825
would be with a 2332 yeah
and uh let me see I'm gonna pull these up real quick so yeah yeah so so it's it's tough with
and a stock Volkswagen weighs what around 1900 pounds 1800 pounds yeah a full dress
see so we have uh light we'll call it lightweight is 1738 okay it's an 82 stroke
then we have a medium 1775 pounds 84 stroke and 1825 pounds is an 86 stroke
so you got 82 84 and 86 stroke yeah but there has been participants with the 80 stroke
but he has to weigh the minimum weight 1738 with an 80 stroke yeah so de stroke in the motor and
and oh because we've had these conversations on the podcast a bunch of different times and I was
I was amazed to find out when I was interviewing um uh Ron um Loomis in his turbo notch was a I
think it was a 64 stroke it was like a de stroke motor with a huge piston yeah and and and I was
blown away by that because it was like you're in your head all of us on the sidelines we just think
big motors big big motors big big big and these guys go like small stroke de stroke it so they
get higher rpm you know what I mean like it was interesting to find that out a lot with those guys
so no matter what the combination so the guy that showed up with the 80 stroke was he competitive
yeah his car ran a 724 really that's interesting and he drove the car from Temecula that's Taylor
Walton oh really yeah nice yeah well that's pretty legit he drove 70 miles to the track
raced and drove it home wow from Irwindow to Temecula I mean that's pretty that's pretty
that's not real street you know right right so the evolution of the class has been going on
and and the tough part now is as the class finally starts getting like super competitive you guys lose
all the races you know like all the races kind of like because buggin loses their stuff right so
there's been what has been one year or two years with no races it's been a year now yeah it's been
a year but uh they're supposed to be coming back in Bakersfield right they're going to they're
we've gone to Bakersfield with Steve Sherman okay the local you know promoter but he's a V8 guy
but he's always invited me to bring the class okay you know and I feel bad for the rest of the
community because you know it's I'm only running real street I can't run in a turbo class or a trophy
class and unfortunately the best racing right now is real street right the most the most the
the most well known because there's a lot of guys that have you know and that's that's the thing you
know I'm supposed to get Joel Moore in the podcast because I ran into him recently at Doug
Bergs Memorial and we started talking about the different racing he's doing and that's just straight
up run for times it's wide open whoever you get the closest to this time and I don't even know if
there's I don't I'm not even sure if there's weight limitations or anything on it but it's like
they're you know they're just going for time index yeah index and just making it more
more fun more competitive because you can run a turbo car against an NA car stuff like that and
it's always interesting to watch those two cars run because you know they've got two different
characteristics going down the track right like one one's top in heavy yeah and the other one's just
a rocket out of the hole the other one screaming the other one's playing catch up right right and so
you know with with the vw scene out here and it's it's tough at all times to avoid any kind of
drama with anything because there's always something where stuff's popping off and people
people start rattling cages and getting stuff and not everybody knows how to act you know what I mean
definitely because we've seen that in the real street a couple years back it was it was getting
crazy yeah people that are just completely out of hand people don't know how to conduct themselves
right and the problem is it kind of salts the whole thing for everybody and it makes it tough
but finally when you guys get some traction people start knowing the names and the cars
and I believe you know and I've wanted to be part of that from the standpoint of just bring it to
the the masses like who's who doing what because I always think about when UFC what made UFC popular
in the beginning was when it had the UFC house where everybody lived together and you kind of
just based on his background his history or whatever the case is and I think it's the same
with the drag racing scene and in in the Volkswagen hobby because if we could get out there the who's
who of what where they're from what their background is kind of stuff then you kind of can then you've
got an invested interest to watch you know what I mean and so forever I've just been trying that's
why I've had I've had uh David on a podcast a bunch of times just to kind of try to talk about
the the the scene what's going on who's building what you know because I know Adam Adam's been
driving a car with Ramirez Ramirez Ramirez yeah and those guys have been doing big you know like
they were actually the champs for last year yeah the champs for last year you know and and this class
has had its fair share of you know I'm first in circumstances we'll say yeah and we just try to
deal with them the best we can the best I can you know I I can't accommodate somebody because
of rules are already laid out right but when you have certain circumstances pop up we would I would
pull the guys together hey let's let's vote you know on this but then that turns around and bites me
in the ass right and I'm not going to be the bad guy right so I'm just not going to accommodate
anyone these are the rules you show up race day ready now I remember I remember some of the stuff
I caught wind of back in the day when it was maybe about five six years ago there was something going
on with fuel cooling or something like that going on people were chilling their fuel so what I want
to bring up you know whenever you look at any racing of any type right rules everybody there's
two ways look at a rule book right you look at rule book is what what you can't do then you can
because it doesn't say you can't do that there's that gray area definitely and that's always forever
in racing forever if it doesn't say you can't people will try yeah you know what I mean and
that's part of the part of the technique for racing right I mean it's funny because I've talked to
I've had I was talking to Lonnie Reed and some people like that and they're like oh yeah for guys
that would do stuff they would have you know nitrous lines under the tin yeah going into the
manifolds or whatever like yeah there's all kinds of ways that everybody's trying to get a leg up on
whatever yeah yeah and it's always been in the history of racing everybody's looking for whatever
it doesn't say and there's just some people that are just straight up like I don't even care you
know but the the the the cool part about is when you can actually get a group of guys that stick
to the rules and everybody just tries to get because then it's really the driver and the car
is down to that you can have all the power you want you know some people get caught up in all I
need to make X amount of power you know you don't need all that power if you can't put it to the
ground you know right your suspension you know the driver you know it there's a lot of factors
yeah you know and now what so what's the process that you go through when you're checking in the
cars and stuff like that do they all does every car get waited every race before every way before
every pass the cars get scaled oh really and that's before we go on a cruise they drain the tanks
they fill the tanks with however many gallons of gas they're gonna get through the day so yeah yeah
let's talk about and I seal the tank I put a couple seals on it so if it's tampered with I don't know
but it's a it's also a lot of work for just one person I volunteered I ain't getting paid I do this
for because I'm an enthusiast just like everyone else right right and and I love the sport I'm gonna
ride this wave as long as I can hey when it crashing burns it crashing burns but not on my
watch right if there's a place to race I'm gonna be running this class yeah and so every car gets
weighed at the beat so let's say it's Saturday it's gonna be a real street competition today in the
morning all the cars get weighed we go on the cruise we do we do the cruise first now do the fuel
check and seal the tank okay and then we cruise back to the track so hold on so you gotta calculate
how much fuel you're gonna need to drive back to the track and make your rounds yeah and predict
you know you're gonna go without and everybody's trying to save every eight pounds for each gallon
but here's the thing too though I'll buy a couple gallons of gas for the community for the guys
that go all the way to the final I don't want somebody to lose a race because of gas because
they ran out of fuel so they'll be like hey can we check my fuel sure we'll check it what's the
closest you seen somebody come like you see them on like on actually they they're like man I could
have put less and some of these guys are putting like four gallons four gallons yeah to drive back
from the cruise the cruise is only 20 miles but up in Barona we're kind of adjusting because it's
real it's small up there there's really nowhere to go so the cruise has been like 12 miles right
but it is what it is you know and has it has been racing Barona Barona has been awesome yeah yeah
it's a good track over there they just resurfaced it they just did the water box they just paved
the whole track the track owner RJ that guy is has a heart of gold he called me right after New
Years what are we doing where do you want to put you in but I don't I think it'd be selfish just for
me to take the class and not like the whole community right so you know Ron Ron Flaming started
the SoCal you know racing this organization and he's a promoter I'm bringing the class
and they're running a trophy class pro eliminator and real street but there's no
class for like the triple guys he said if somebody wants to bring eight cars and bring a class
there'll be a payout but I got too much on my plate to take on something something else right
I'm too invested in to what I'm doing for this class just on the real street stuff yeah yeah
and so with this with the past over the past couple years in real street who has been I mean
who are the main players like if you're gonna say you got what six cars that are pretty much
main players four cars what do we got here man we got we got I mean because it can really
can be anybody's game right it's anybody's game and there's been David was the first guy in the
sixes and then Sean won sixes Tony Klink has the records been in sixes uh Chuck Studler's
been in the sixes and Adam Wicks knocking on the door he's been he's a player yeah Sean
Sean has been a player but Sean took uh some time off he'll he'll be back who knows when but
he'll come rattle rattle the feathers you know right right but you know Tony Klink uh all these
guys man Jason Laffer yeah all these guys are players and they're jacks the caddies coming his
car is just about done uh Chris Laffer's car is just about done uh brothers VW Gia's just about done
there's a bunch of cars yeah so more cars coming out oh definitely yeah it was looking kind of
promising when you had the race of champions over here right that they were doing over here but
that only that it's only popped off one year they didn't do it a second year that it cancelled on
that this track out here is so freaking expensive bro yeah and and I've got uh a friend that was
running a west coast hot rod association and I try to say like hey man can we do something on that
and the the part of the challenge with the track out here is the track out here just the real
estate out there is so gigantic even if you put a show out there you put a show it looks like a it
looks like a postage stamp on a manila because the the parking lot is so big it's just so gigantic
and then you have the pits and all that stuff and I mean it's it's a track set up for massive racing
but the the barrier to entry is the cost right I think it's like $30,000 for a day and I imagine
right trying to get and I've been coming out because you know with one crazy week and I keep
thinking like I was on a map and there's a town sandy valley it's about it's probably 20 miles from
here like if you get on the freeway just it does just before you head to prem you'll see an exit
sandy valley you make it right there it's about 10 miles back in there and it's all like farmland
and they got sod farms it's right up against california border I actually was tracking down
I found like a 20-acre estate that was for sale over there and it had a like a runway on it and I
was like bro I was trying to get in touch with the owner because what I wanted to do for one crazy
week and I thought how cool would that be if we did like a Friday night drags because we could we
could they do test and tune every Friday my only thing is I don't know if they do test and tune
Friday of one crazy weekend because it'll be cool because they have the it's not test and tune they
do uh it's midnight mayhem they call it and it's put on by summit and so anybody's legal
registered car could come out here and run and uh but I think because NASCAR is coming up just
close to that they're not doing it but I thought it'd be super cool if I could find our runway or
something we just did heads up yeah that'd be sweet heads up racing and so it's still on my
wish list of things to do for one crazy weekend but it's like trying to find something where we
could do something like that and get it you know legit but because the racing part is so fun to
watch that stuff you know what I mean yeah and they used to have a thing I heard they did the
street outlaws there was a little track out here they called it by the power plant right there's
yeah power plant yeah yeah yeah I went out there I went out there one Saturday because the buddy
was oh yeah they're gonna be out there testing I went out there and dudes are out there race
trailers bro they bring race trailers out there and they're prepping their cars do all stuff in
there I watched a couple dudes race for like four grand you know yeah I mean just crazy stuff
and now they took that road out there and just put some big speed bumps in it so now
there's no more racing out there so um it it's become difficult to find a place and the mileage
between all the events I mean if you're talking from Baker sort of Barona that's yeah that's
400 miles you know what I mean and so and then you know Vegas is always a great place but the
problem here is the cost of the track and and that's what you got to give it up to like the
guys from Buggerama they spend so much money to to try to get the for so many years yeah for so
many years and nobody and you know and the problem is imagine you'd let that kind of money for an
event and it was oh man this you know you guys don't pay enough you don't do this you don't do
that I mean while these are there's a lot more to it they're struggling to just you know they're
like oh my gosh it's $20 to get in and it's like and that's the track you know every event out there
to go to it's 30 bucks any event I went out there one time for a super Chevy event and I was like
man a super Chevy magazine it's got to be huge I went out there's like 30 cars I'm like I like
problem who's paying for this because somebody's losing some money yeah big and and as you look
for ways to kind of get people to come out and support and be part of this stuff it it becomes
difficult because you know you need so much just the track in and of itself and the facility to
have that if you can piggyback on to another event where something else is already going you
guys can dedicate a lane and some runtime for it it's good but you know it's it's crazy because
we have Irwindale shut down yeah that was did they did they clear out the lot yet they started
no they cleared out like the the circle track it seemed like so the drag strips still sitting there
yeah it's like it's bad it's terrible you know and they had I mean before that the new were
more latest greatest thing out there was what was the one in Riverside called
well Fontana Fontana and they got rid of Fontana too right and Fontana was new yeah
that's the crazy part waste of money but real estate became so valuable that they're just like
hey it's cheaper just to sell the thing I mean I don't know what the story was behind Fontana but
I'm assuming it was developers looked at it said yeah we'll we'll take that yeah we could park on
a lot of 48 foot trailers there right plenty of room yeah that was that was a that was a big
track but so let's talk about your car for a bit so so you you got your 62 rag tops it's a pretty
it's a nice car it's a real nice car and tell me about the build on that car that build took
two years two years to build it was built with intentions of someday racing real street
yeah but and it's built real street spec right now yeah and what's what's your car weighing in that
my car weighs 1530 pounds have you ever ran your car no wait a second 1500 ain't on the list bro
no that's what that's that's what that's not what me in it okay so when me in it's like 1800 and
20 pounds I think okay so so that car so these weight races here that you these weight class
you gave me here that's with driver in the car yeah yeah okay because that makes a difference yeah
that makes a big difference sometimes you got to get a jockey like you just switch out yeah you see
but my car is a street car it's yeah I have all the sound datting throughout the car it's all carpeted
oh really yeah and so your car um have you ever ran your car no not yet I plan on I plan on it
yeah but you want to run a real street event you just want to run it just probably just run it just
to get some times just get some times you know it makes power you know I'm gonna I'm gonna look
on the counter right now see if the Las Vegas Motor Speedway has uh something going on one crazy
weekend um I'm bringing my car this year yeah because because I mean how cool is that strip cruise
oh man you know what I mean that's why I want to bring my car I don't think there's anything that
beats that strip and then now it has a five-speed so man it'll it'll cruise the streets and it'll
yeah I gotta I've got a uh five-speed um I got a burg five-speed in my split and then I've got
another one that I haven't got I bought it a couple years ago in uh in um like in uh Indiana
somewhere yeah those things are awesome man yeah bro they don't have in there's no so normally they
have the summit ET bracket series and that ends in September and then they have roundy round stuff
and the problem is the Sunday October 4th is the NASCAR is the NASCAR event October 8th is
NHRA uh bracket finals is October 8th my event is uh yeah so they do NASCAR stuff so that the
strip won't be doing anything that first weekend that's crazy just in October man they just get
they have uh bull ring which is the round roundy round track and then they do uh they don't do
anything until the next weekend so yeah be uh it would just be the problem the other problem with
the track out here is it's so far out of town like when people come to Vegas they want to be in
Vegas you know what I mean and when you go out there a year old lady ain't happy like what she's
like you're going where you took me to 40 acres of asphalt what am I doing here yeah yeah so let's
get back on your let's get back on your car so your car give me the give me the specs on your car
your motor um who built your motor Sean Gears built my motor Sean Gears built your motor 2386
2386 and what kind of compression is that motor runs over like 14 no no that's a pump gas so what's
the max people have been pulling off the pump gas I want to say like 11 to 1 or so right around that
ballpark and what what kind of tricks have people been trying to do to get more to get more compression
like what different head design combustion chamber shapes or pistons trying to do everything they
to try to push that compression but everything everyone too don't want to give all the
the hats out of the bag you know so are you allowed in the real street class to run any
octane booster no it's 91 pump gas so everybody so you guys just pay a gas station everybody
goes and everybody has to put gas everybody puts gas I show the tank yeah and then your car you got
a bird five speed not I've heard about the five speeds that they're pretty good up to a certain
amount of horsepower but I mean I guess and and I don't know if that's just for that fourth gear
the way that main shaft is built I think it's a main shaft but mine it has a widow main shaft
not a modified vw oh really yeah and who built your trans uh rancho ranch of the trans yeah
nice so you got full aftermarket main shaft and all that stuff so and what do you got are you
close ratio first to fourth yeah and then 425 254 171 132 or something like that I know what's
your fourth uh 82 oh 82 cruise 80 miles an hour on the freeway at 2800 3 grand yeah yeah it's
bitch it's pretty bitch yeah well I have a four speed in the double cabin my crew cab over there
and that's a that's a oh oh 82 oh 82 uh fourth gear in it I mean if it didn't have a two point the
2.6 liter it's gonna go north but I don't even go into fourth till 60 you know I mean third gear
takes me all the way to 60 because I also got 17s with big tall tires on the back you know but that
car that that car is built for cruising after I built that trans and then I got back in a bull run
bus it was it was uh it was weird being a fourth gear because fourth gear felt like it wasn't going
that fast because it was a typical 089 fourth you know so now when I redo that trans axle when
that car comes back out for one crazy weekend it'll have the it'll have the tall gear because
I like getting on there man and just like get on the freeway and just step in but but you know
your car to to be as light as it is walk me through on your car what you did to lighten
to lighten your 62 so I ran uh I did a a narrowed beam I did a strange brakes aluminum
beam no no no because people used to run those jt beams right yeah or the the jammer beams jammer
yeah yeah yeah so you got a narrowed beam narrowed beam how narrowed for a four inch
four inch narrow beam uh strange I got the strange brakes spindle mount so spin them off
front wheels yeah wow they're actually out you remember you know who I used to the first car
that I saw on the cover of the bags with the spindle mounts was Jeff Hart's yeah you remember
in a hobby yeah that car's a badass car and you saw that car you know Jeff works over here with
Adam over here yeah he still has that he still has that car I know I've been telling him I'm like bro
bring it out to one crazy weekend I'm gonna push him to bring it out to one good he cruised he went
on the real street cruise it has a turbo motor in it right now yeah but he did real street cruise
with us and yeah that's his badass car so you got spindle mount front spindle mount wheels
actually the wild wheels are off of shawnt super street gear oh yeah yeah really yeah and then you
got strange brakes strange brakes strange how does it how does it feel with just back brakes only
is it a little sketchy sometimes you just gotta have front brakes I do have strange front I have
a floating caliper in the front so how does it how does it have a caliper that's it's if
spindle mount it's gears engineering really yeah so you have front brakes yeah that's crazy yeah
so you got front brakes and you got back brakes and I have a e-brake too oh really yeah I have a
little motorcycle caliper e-brake really yeah just manual like hydraulic no factory cable
really yeah that's pretty slick yeah so you got a lot of trick stuff on the car yeah your car your
car like most people walk by your car it's pretty unassuming in the parking lot and if you don't
know you don't know yeah it's you know it's not over the top but it's a cool build you know it's
I wanted something cool I wanted something you know fast I wanted something light and
it came out pretty cool you know I had carbon joe you know I met carbon joe buying some
running boards and then I asked him like can you do some like one-off stuff like
teabars I said no I think I want some teabars he's like I think I could do some and we built a
friendship you know from the first deal he's a good guy oh man he's such a good dude he's been
involved my car my car looks the way it does he's a big part of it yeah joe did some my door panels
he did my my teabars uh my sun visor carbon fiber yeah uh my my carb windows uh yeah I just got uh
he just made some uh some side uh ducts for the buses like some ram air oh yeah yeah like the
scoops carbon fiber I just got a set they're gonna put them on the carbon cab nice yeah it's uh
it goes perfect with that bro he's the he's the guy man well you know uh with that carbon
fiber technology I found a guy here in town that's building a full carbon fiber shell bus
oh I seen that that's just like that's wicked out of nowhere right go to this guy's shop and it's
full corvette chassis under this thing and he's gonna do electric and all the stuff and I'm thinking
it's wild how the body weighs 70 pounds versus 700 yeah it's you know what I mean it's crazy
but you know that that technology we live in a time where with Volkswagen's the technology is
so far out ahead of everything else I mean we look at the guys back in the 70s that were running
stuff and we're like man these guys those guys are trying anything and now we got but they paved
those guys paved the way they came up with all this trick stuff like when you go to the chalet
museum man oh yeah you look at when I was talking to clad and clad was showing me the cast iron
inserts they were putting the cylinder heads yeah it's like it's you know anything that they would
they would try to do anything they could yeah yeah so we're talking about your motor and your motor
on carbs you got 48 ideas I got 48 ideas the class limited 48 ideas are you can't punch them out no
are you checking you guys check diameter carburetor's all that stuff and then um you're running on
your car you're running your tall manifolds like uh scatter manifold no actually I got uh
gears engineering billet manifolds no okay yeah so gears engineering manifolds what kind of heads
you're running uh street fighters street fighters who makes the street fighters uh cb such as it's a
cb head yeah and it's been massaged by by jeff denham yeah and who's and jeff denham's a guy who's
a bit he was one of the the originals from the real street the original real street jeff denham i
yeah he was the original i had like i got to get all these guys on the podcast because he
he ran uh like i believe like a 2,500 cc in his car really yeah that's it's crazy yeah that's you
know that's the thing is is displacement you know there's a guy here last year uh for one crazy
weekend he might have been here for the show that they had at the at the at the dam that's going on
today and it's a little bit breezy for a car show today yeah and uh he had a puma with a 2,500 cc
motor and a yellow puma and i remember seeing that car i got pictures of it that i took at the uh
at one of the the meats down at um what was the burger joint nyx down at nyx yeah and i remember
seeing that car and i said i ran into the dude over here he's a big boy he's about you're on my
sides right and uh i'm like i don't know how you fit in that puma bro because i and it would
but he had a 2,500 cc motor and it was all like kind of burned up you know i mean look good so
displacement's interesting with the type ones because you can get to a certain point like 2,400
is probably like the biggest you can get before going to like an aftermarket case or i don't know
if you got to go aftermarket case with 2,400 no you could still use that that's like a 90 millimeter
90 94 yeah so you got those heads 48s and then what are you running for rockers rockers or just
rockers are uh cmi rockers okay so the cmi rockers and then um as far as oil capacity on your car
you just run you run a deep sump on that thing yeah gears engineering some uh aluminum sump
what is it uh like a five quart i think the car holds uh like almost 10 quarts of oil and you
got external fan yeah and in your uh your cooling system on the car is a is uh my oil pumps a daily
pump and then the fan and all that stuff that you're running still in there still factories so you're
running up you're running uh just a type one like a 36 horse shroud yeah you're not running 911 style
setup no no anybody running that in real street no there's a i think somebody's going to come out
with uh like uh porous shroud now real street can you take the fan belt off if you want yeah oh
that's the only thing see in the early days guys after the cruise i won't say no names but he would
like pull the the whole uh fan shroud off that's not street you know like i know fan belt is not
street but it's going to give you a few you know right five five five seven horsepower it's going
to help you down the track but you know that's pulling off the shroud now you take it now you
take off a 30 pound alternator also yeah now you're you know now you're come on i know it
doesn't say it but we're supposed to be all men you know like right does everything have to be
written down in black and white for you know it's so that's why that's where it gets difficult you
know and and and the drama and the drama begins right and that's yeah definitely it's have a
it's fair share of drama so behind the scenes with let's let's we'll we'll step on that for a
minute we'll talk about the uh a little bit of some of the drama over the course that you've
been a race director over there what what kind of what have been the different challenges and
have you had to solve them so it was a first the first drama i mean the drama that i heard of
because i was watching some stuff on instagram because now not everybody has social media everybody
everybody's recording yeah yeah exactly and so i remember there was one there was one thing about
fuel cooling or something like that what what was that all about somebody got caught uh with the
with their gas can in a nice chest okay but that was that was the early this was like yeah
when i was just helping this is before the tanks were sealed and all that stuff yes everybody had
have your monitored fuel yeah that was and i and i'm wondering on the dyno what a difference
that would make i would be interesting to see the difference if you chilled fuel and ran cold fuel
in the car to see if you got better atomization or better combustion i mean yeah because the thought
the thought process like oh it runs cooler right yeah could work the opposite way good yeah exactly
i mean i don't know and so somebody was doing that somebody saw somebody else had a had their fuel
can in an ice chest and then they said they looked at them they said well it doesn't say you can't do
it in rules but i don't like it yeah i don't like this guy might have an advantage i mean it was a
fast guy doing that yeah it was a fast guy so people what anytime you're the fast guy everybody's
looking at everything yeah exactly you got a target on your back of course so if you're the if you were
last place dude you had your stuff in ice chest nobody cares yeah nobody cares yeah but because
you know you're not a threat but you're a fast guy it makes no sense right right but hey right
it is the fast guy the fast guys leave his alternator at the camp he's taking his windows out
he's and no one gives a crap because he ain't beating nobody but that's usually always wait
so you had the fuel you had fuel gate yeah fuel the chiller gate and then what happened what's
something i'm just out of curiosity because i don't fall too close what have been some of the
the stumbling blocks you've had to clarify rules on uh guys uh like let's say we had uh like a
driver swap what a driver swap so somebody drove somebody's car because somebody couldn't make a
race so we voted on it all the guys all the participants you said is it okay if someone's
so recently and everyone was like like sure you know like yeah but later six months later when it
came down to the points and you know the championship up for grabs then it became a big deal again
now i became a point of contention like everybody was cool letting the driver alternate because
got a guy couldn't be at the tracks and i want my car to run there my buddy's gonna drive my car for
me and then that was all good to go until until he got competitive he was gonna win until the
points were all tallied up and it was you know it was it was really close then it became a problem
again and then it was my fault i was a bad guy but you guys all voted on it right so now moving
forward i'm not gonna we're not voting on anything yeah because of what was the point of the vote if
no one's gonna stick to it the rules are the rules and that's it yeah if you can't make a race then
don't show up yeah yeah that's crazy i mean it's you know what's and what's some other stuff so you
you had to start sealing the tanks because yeah every every rule is comes from someone
making a complaint yeah more or less or is just a foundation of you know the of the class well as
a contractor my contract that you sign is a list of all the problems i've had on the job before
nasa in a contract we will not do this we don't do that don't expect us to do this this is not part
of this just because the guy at home depot told you need to see that we should seal the grout we
get people telling well the guy at home depot said that you guys should be doing this i'm like
we should have hired him yeah you should be over here doing the job right but i mean you know that
my contract is written based off of unforeseen circumstances we've had through lack of clarity
and communication with my clients right and so it's the same thing in the racing right the rule
book is written off of things that were gray area before and then someone pushed the boundaries
and usually it was somebody that was really competitive because
rod buster we're looking at the poster in the studio here with that car that became rod buster the
full billet machine and he said he took the rule book for how they judge a class and built the car
to the rule book so so it was like degree of difficulty attention to detail and how much you
know all the stuff and so that's why he just destroyed everything in class because he built it
to the rule book like to max everything out and so guys that are really competitive they have a
tendency to look they look the way everybody else is not looking you know so we had a fuel gate we
had uh we had a driver gate you know we had a guy a major contender pull out his motor
and fix yes it was like a main seal or something but the rule states to get a fellow racer and
the race director you can just take it upon yourself just to pull your motor right it doesn't
matter who you are right a rule is a rule yeah okay so we had that this is a one certain event and
then the same guy didn't scale this car and ran a killer pass killer pass I had to throw it out so
where I screwed up and I'll admit it you know because this is a whole learning process for me
too that you know I'm learning as I go and if I make a call or decision I need to stand by it
if it's right or wrong hey it's on me yeah but if I'm wrong it won't happen again yeah so
I'm not gonna let that happen again so next time somebody pulls their motor out without telling me
you're dequeued end of story yeah you make a pass without scaling your car you're dequeued so this
guy made a killer pass didn't scale his car so he got dequeued so and then everybody's upset with
you but the problem is the rules have to be the same for everybody because because then it's like
it's like kids once you let one kid do something now all the kids are doing they're gonna all want
the favor and then you're the bad guy oh bend me bend over like this bend you know they do me a solid
over here yeah I can't man right there's a lot writing on my decisions and it's got to be integrity
you got to be like I got to be the same for everybody exactly and I'm friends with because
people people are gonna think oh you're better buddies with so and so so you're letting so and
so slide yeah yeah I'm about the class as a whole right not individuals not a buddy not not Sean
not David not Donnie not you know what I mean right I look at all these guys as participants
and friends yeah and I built relationship through the years of running this class already like
what has it been like six six years seven years yeah and I do it all I get sponsors I do the payouts
I patrol the class I enforce the rules it's a lot for one person yeah but I do it because
for volunteer for volunteer I don't get paid for this shit you know I sell some t-shirts
in right that all comes out of my pocket yeah and that's to promote the class yeah and I put
you know participants on the t-shirt to show appreciation you know show who's out here and
acknowledge you know the hard work that these guys are doing yeah and putting on a great show
killer show and you know I wouldn't have it any other way yeah no but it's been exciting to watch
these cars just push the envelope and get faster and faster faster and do all kinds of stuff you
know what was interesting is you know I was looking at Adam and those guys when they were in their pit
and then they had they were the way they were cooling their engine down and then everybody
starts getting up in arms because the way they're cooling their motor was like didn't say you can't
other guys have fans cooling fans they're just is a more direct you know right right more efficient
coolings but it's interesting because you know when I talk to Adam a lot Adam's really like
he's always talking about bro the vw world needs to look at like the the real racers the real the
top fuelers all that stuff because if you're looking in that direction and you're applying it to vw's
then like it's then you would see the bar raised yeah you can see some results yeah yeah definitely
and so um I just think it's been it's been interesting to watch it go it's a bomber that
that there's been that hiccup with the tracks and hopefully you will gain some traction you can see
some of that stuff but I think what would be great is is what do you guys have set up for this year
for races this year we have uh four four races so there's four races here where they take in place
actually there's five races sorry there's four barona and we're at barona yeah and the season
finale is going to be at the buggin in famosal so and that's bakers famosal and and that's a two
day event that that's going to be we need the the whole community to show up to that yeah we definitely
need to support because again it's it's the you need to have the people supporting that are also
the spectators and all the stuff because other than that it makes it too expensive to get the
track if you're not recouping the money for you know paying for the track because all that stuff's
expensive the insurance you got to pay for the ambulance you got to have all that stuff there
on standby so I encourage everybody to support um what are they doing that that's in november
that's uh yeah i believe november yeah i'm gonna try i'm gonna try to i'm gonna try to make it up
there and support that because they're gonna have they're gonna have swapped me you know the car show
and drag racing so yeah there's something for everybody you it's not just for racers
and that's in bakersfield yeah and there's plenty of room there yeah that would be uh
that that would be a cool thing you know there's you know bakersfield has a lot of a lot of history
that's bakersfield right there oh really in 19 in the mid 80s the car up on my rack the pink car
that's bakersfield all those cars like in in the early 80s those guys came out of bakersfield
and destroyed the show scene they just wrecked everybody bro jack to jackamo you got uh uh
george delfino you got chris adington you got steve connect all those guys they're all buddies
from volksworks uh or the v-dubs v-dubs unlimited or v-dubs limited was the name of the the
the club and they just cleaned up a show in california they showed out uh 100 percent
and that's that's one of the reasons why like that future shock up there that's steve's car
steve had a shop volksworks and a lot of the guys like that was all the cars came out of that shop
and then their goal was just to go to every show they did and just devastate you know what i mean
and they did i mean that's this this award right here best of show september 1985 you know what i
mean i mean i got some cool stuff that went over there vw man vw mania like oh that's 1985 you
know these are all these are all the shows that uh show car special uh small car specialties stuff
like that so um there's a lot of history a lot of volkswagen roots and bakersfield to the show
scene it would be cool to um who knows maybe i'd take future shock out there and just bring
future shock back to back to this home country where where it's from because that's just a
cool thing and who knows maybe i could talk to some of the guys and get uh do a little showcase
do a bakersfield you know because i'm going to these magazines the 80s and the famosa was on
famosa was on the map back in day used to be used to be a pretty good thing and you know bakersfield
still like a big heavy hot rod scene a lot of a lot of cars out there yeah so that would be cool
man i encourage everybody to go out there and barona so you guys have you guys have had one
race already this year no uh two two races already one of the next two races we had uh one
in february and we're having the second one actually the second one is two weeks from now
two weeks from now on a 26 and that's gonna be in barona and bomb means man text me when when
these events are so i get the calendar so i can just help promote it from where we're at so we can
try to get people to get out there and support because it's always good to be out there i mean
the racers do it because they love racing yeah but it's even more fun when you got a crowd yeah
for sure people are watching you know so and definitely when they call up the real street
the those grandstands or yeah they get packed yeah you when you hear these go through the trap and
the those you know the time's come up man people you hear them like if it's a upset or whatever it
may be you you hear them it's it's pretty cool it's it would be it would be pretty rad to see
some of those cars go up against some of these modern day fast cars just because those volkswagens
they're street cars and they're freaking fast i mean if those cars a seven second like a 7-0
running through the lights is equivalent to how fast in the 7-0 is like like what like a
a low 11 a low 11 and then a 690 is going to be like that's you're in the 10 you're not going to
adore the 10 that's a 10 second street car on pump gas naturally aspirated naturally aspirated
that's crazy it's not it's nuts yeah it's when we could they've come a long way all the but all
those cars they're big money cars and i think um you know i have this conversation with adam
quite a bit because adam's carburetor guy and i'm like brah i just think a turbo he's like yeah
turbo's are for guys don't know how to make power i'm like no you just put a big turbo on it and it
takes power but i think that's why um you know i've been i've been wanting to get steve dalton
on the podcast because steve dalton's done a bunch of the dragon drive stuff yeah that's cool
and that car is like i saw that car at the dkp me and nobody's looking at this car they're all
just walking around the car like what's the 71 bug with the quirky seats and i'm just like wicked
and i'm like you guys have no idea and it went through the you know and it went through the phases
it was you know aspirated fuel injected and that car's always that car is a monster i think he i
think he's running nines in the quarter yeah i think like dragon dragon drive well i think
they kind of tuned it down just to run more consistent than trying to make trying to you
know send it all of it you know but yeah that i think that would be fun to have
like a built dragon drive car but you know and and even if you had when they just ran like a car
that's capable of running because i my my mind goes to like if you've got a nine second car
and you dial it back to running low 11s high tens it's probably going to be a little more
last a lot longer all right that way so yeah if you kind of detune like you know what it can do
and you scale it back a little bit because me i i like to have it just you know i mean that you
see here i got too much crap over here so stuff sits for a minute and then it's like this is like
the chilies of the Volkswagen you're right you're going to chill it's all the junk on the walls
they do all the little whatever we got that same stuff here and it's you know it's it's um
it's one because i have a drag bug it's it's in arizona um i took it to uh the only time i
raced it was because i thought it's a five thousand dollar drag car about motor everything right and
it's got um it's just ghetto bird uh you know fiberglass front end steel body 64 sunroof car nice
and uh butchered uh 64 the small window steel sunroof car i might put a steel front end back
on it but i that's in line behind 50 other projects um and i took it out there ran it
and then it went um i broke the transaxle at um in medford and then johnny took it back to arizona
and then the car got left outside carburetor's got ruined and then uh my buddy uh rick stanfield
is is kind of going through it right now and i and my thought was like i said dude i'm i just like
to make a like over build a turbo car and just have a nice turbo car that i could just go out
i could take the test and tunes i could park it i don't got to do a bunch of work i don't
got to tear it down all the time like it's overbuilt and then i could just go have fun trying to be
consistent on my times you know what i mean and i keep thinking with that car i was talking to rick
and i'm like maybe we just got to do a bus transys and he goes man i run a bug trans all that's
because it's so he doesn't build transaxles and he's like i've had a bug tranny for so long you
know he's just got to know how to drive it how to launch him and all that kind of stuff how many
how many of these guys in the real street class that go through trannings are they are they staying
pretty reliable or they are actually they are you know i know a couple guys i've gone through some
re-impinions but for the most part you know there's a bunch of type one boxes there's probably you
know a handful of the type two type two bus boxes you know maybe three four of them but the type two
the type two is a heavier box but it's also heavy duty too yeah it's doubtful that that thing will
last you the season well that's what you know when i had Scott Kelly on here right with this
okay if you pull it right i had him on there he says we went from doing races to seasons
like so many races this trannings were now we're just doing seasons like we get three seasons four
seasons out of a transaxle that's crazy so you know i think you could build the perfect recipe of like
the all-around car like definitely with what's out there available now no doubt yeah i mean and
that's the cool part you know and what you see would like carbon joe with technology using carbon
stuff and lighting up the car or like chuck too you know chuck's building some i i got some of his
new 300 chuck's supposed to get on the podcast bro i've been on chuck for a while 300 m axles
yeah i have his new 300 on my car yeah my five speed do those they're fucking stout yeah solid i
think those axles last longer than the car yeah well um yeah i know it's it's i'm excited to see
more stuff we got to get more coverage on the guys from uh from that are that are out there racing
and getting some more getting a little more people behind kind of knowing who's out there
who's racing and what their setup is in the small guys too you know that's why i came up with the
second chance race so if you go out first round now you fall into the second chance bracket
what's the second chance bracket so now i don't want to call them losers but you know you go out
first round all these guys that go out first round are still racing for money yeah so there's good
racing on both ends right so you're not gonna have a walk through the park through the finals
you're gonna have a dogfight up here and you're gonna have dogfight down here
and it's it's worked so far so far so good so i'm gonna just let it ride yeah because you know
with the craziest part about racing is anything can happen you can screw up your first pass and
because these guys don't get practice runs we get three qualifiers but and and those are points
also as well yeah so let's say somebody has to work on their car and miss around hey you know like
i would at least get to the line even if you're not gonna make a full pass drive it down
get your 10 points because come end of the year right it'll it'll come haunt you yeah yeah so how
does that point system work what's how many points do these car get per pass and there's been a work
where they're placed it depends where you qualify so every pass is worth 10 points yeah and then and
where you finish and then there's bonus points for the top three guys of each round and then there's
a bonus point for the lowest et of the day so if you if you're in a top three you hit every race
and you got low ct you're gonna be points ahead everybody yeah definitely and if you can keep
that up consistently for two races three races yeah you're pretty but you know it's like you said
it's drag race you never know you might roll the beams you know i've seen that or you've seen
hole shot man there's been so many hole shot wins and yeah because they're that close man do it's
jason loffer man who did a big upset the last race it was because barone's close to where the
loffers are at right that's their that's their backyard so how long have they just now starting
to get involved in the real street stuff no no they've been they've been jason's been racing
with real street already for years oh has he what what car is his his is an old car from the 80s as
well the the blue rag top okay yeah he showed me pictures uh he sent me some pictures from back
in the day like i want to say 80 82 round there is of his track i forget the guy's name that built
that car but it's a it's a old race car cow look race car yeah there's there's so there's so many
different ways that's the problem with volkswagen there's so many different ways you can build a
motor so many different ways you can yeah create a race car that it's like you know there it's not
like just throwing ls in it see it's really easy to get sidetracked and that's always been my problem
is i've never worried about how the car looked i wanted i wanted to haul ass yeah you know like
with my notch back they everybody called my notch back debil and i drove it everywhere that thing
weighed 2200 pounds and it ran 780s all day at urlindale really took it up to sacramental
i was hoping for like 1250s i went to a bugarama uh i believe it was 75 first pass the car went
750 740 uh i mean 12 because it's quarter mile so it went 1250 1240 and it started running 1230s
really dude pump gas 2332 first gen cb heads motor built by jung woo with all the gears tricks
and dude that car just it was killer 2200 pounds and what happens how'd you lighten
but notch back that light dude i i kind of killed that i ruined the car did when i got it it was
complete car i took off the bumpers put t bars i pulled out the interior put aluminum door panels
is it on your facebook uh i believe so from the early days i'm looking for it and uh i got old
videos of it uh i had quirky seats i put urkles on it it had a type one conversion beam on it
how big how how big a difference to the like the wheels make when you switch out like it from a
set of five spokes a set of well i had urkles i had empty fuchs on it those weighed uh i believe
16 pounds versus six pound urkles holy cow so that's 40 on all four corners so 40 pounds less
rotating mass i mean so so we got that car to weigh uh 2200 pounds wow 2200 pounds for a notch
back and what happened to the notch i sold it who's got it now it went through a couple guys
i went to a guy with vogue style and then he sold it to my buddy up here uh miguel you probably
know miguel he's a willer and dealer he bought it and he offered it back to me yeah that's it right
there i used to drive it everywhere man i love that car i should have what i did to my 62 i should
have did to that car yeah it would have been all the carbon stuff everything i should have did it to
that car yeah but it ended up in texas and from what i heard it the guy's gonna make it electric
now you had upright motor in it yeah so you that's how i bought it uh body it was the the mountain
in the front was cut well do you remember um um what the type 34 that used to run that pipp
pankox used to have the car but then uh what's his name from dkp had it uh eric justice eric
justice that car was and that motor was pancake in that car wasn't it that motor i think that motor
was pancake what you know 40 ideas on that word on the street is he wants to build another one
well i got one bro i got the 64 over here ready for action brown guy but you know that you've seen
that 2.6 over there yeah uh listen last week i'm over two weeks i want cars and coffee guy rolls in
but it with uh with a bug that's just no fan trout no nothing just sprung ready for action like
like like tweaker meth bug just showed up ready for action and then i thought i saw that and i thought
man i just got to get a trans axle for the texas another type 34 in the back
because you ain't seen the whole estate oh type 34 hiding in the backyard yeah i thought i take that
put that big 2.6 leader in there put a little touch of the squeeze on there and game over bro
game over but then then it's like you know it's one more project i don't have time for yeah and i
went and and i think that the drag type 34 was so cool to see that thing just ripping down the track
you know what i mean because it because i used to see it at barona is used to run all the time
in barona back in the days because that's where i'm ever seeing videos from it because this is
you're talking early i think that was carl's bed carl's bed at the dkp uh yeah back in
so yeah i never knew about the notch what's the story with the notch so you bought that
notch and you were just like and you so what was the setup in that car that was a close ratio type
one box uh also a rancho box uh that was a chung wu bill 2332 uh made like 235 horse wow yeah 86c
with the 48 ideas uh but that was you that that wasn't a street driver that was a race car no that
was my street car i drove it i drove that thing everywhere what'd you have for uh what did you
have for um i didn't even have an external oil cooler no no you just had a regular doghouse cooler
in it yeah really 10 to 1 thing rip man that's wild dude i was launching that thing at 7500
shifting at what i shift at like 82 yeah you're you're not playing games man what made you sell it
i wanted to go faster i wanted something lighter and i didn't want to cut it up it was
too nice of a car to cut up yeah i i so you sold it as is like that like running and driving
like that no i wrote no i took out my transmission and my motor so you put the stock stuff back in
that solder just sold it as a roller oh really yeah that would you sell for actually don't make me mad
no some guy came over and insulted me an old actually the guy we were talking about
mr herby yeah offered me 800 bucks for that car i don't do get out of here 800 bucks you offered
for dude i sold it for what he's out for five five or six grand yeah 64 push button sunroof
yeah i should have kept it it was a keeper i needed the type one beam in there because that's
kind of it it's i think it's fun to see drag stuff that's different yeah i mean especially
like the not that's why i like for us all stuff yeah because that's why they named it one of my
my actually a big oval joe from volkstyle says dude that car is named deeble he called it deeble
yeah and that's what people used to call it but i drove it everywhere man i drove that car everywhere
yeah that thing is rad i remember seeing i think back in the day that thing was pretty cool i even
took it to uh isp open house yeah i said drive it all over at what year were you running this car
what year were you driving this car you sold this car what year uh i've been and i've seen the heights
for like seven years so man it's probably been like eight years nine years yeah so like 2017 you
sold it right around there yeah yeah no that's cool i mean you know the the the platform the
volkstyle platform got so many different things that they can do i just think it's so cool i mean
i saw one type 34 it's in the uk bro it's got a it's all laid out looking good big old monster
turbo motor sticking out of the back like up above the the whole thing's almost up above those the
those guys uh radical bugs or something like that like yeah yeah yeah they got some cool cars
no it's good stuff so what's next for you man what's uh what's uh the plan i mean you got obviously
here for birthday celebration yeah birthday hang out uh man just looking forward to the the next
race in two weeks in two weeks yeah it should be cool and the race is friday saturday or it's uh
saturday sunday this race is going to be on a sunday because uh we had to get a new day because
of the track construction so this race is a sunday race usually it's a saturday so and that's
gonna be on on the 26 26 of april of april yeah all right 26 of april and barona barona
lakeside california barona and lakeside and this is all this this event is of volt wagon so it's
all classes are running at this one yes but just there's no there's no room for a car show or
swamp meet it's just drag racing yeah but if you want to see some good drag racing so hoping
yeah there's trophy class there's a pro eliminator so you'll see what's lakeside near i never i think
i've ever been abroad uh by uh remona up in up in remona okay right after 15 you know up in
it's up in top of the mountain so the elevations pretty pretty hot there yeah that's why these
guys are not in the sixes dz t's at the running like adam wick last event he ran like a 703 a 704
if he was down at urwindale it'd have been six six yeah so they're knocking on the door and
so what's the elevation up there at that track you know i'm i'm i forget yeah i forget but it is
definitely not as fast as urwindale yeah well i'm looking forward to it and look at hopefully uh
we we get an opportunity to do some more um get some more insight definitely when you get a chance
you can always send me a roster who's racing okay and then uh you know i think it'd be good to
maybe if i could get you know maybe 15 minutes with each guy just to kind of interview him and
get people before the races so that we can kind of get a little bit back on each guy what he's
running what he's hoping to do and where we're looking to get so this way we just get a little
more people invested in trying to try to watch that stuff yeah definitely because i love i love
seeing it and anything i can do you know from from here let's talk dubs that we can do to help
promote us you know what i mean sounds good man definitely well i don't want to keep you
too long but i know you got birthday plans for the day and i appreciate you coming over
first thing in the morning and let's get together thanks for having me and uh we'll for sure get
you back in anything anything with real street coming up by all means man reach out to me i will
do and uh maybe maybe we'll throw up some sponsor money for you for uh for your final race this
year hey any any little bit helps and if it wasn't for sponsors man it wouldn't and if people listen
they want to sponsor they want to sponsor some real street how could they get to you to sponsor
uh my social media what's your instagram handle uh dino dinosaur dino dinosaur hit you up on
instagram and there's also a real street racing series instagram okay so you can hit up either one
of those yeah either run both of those and if they want to sponsor because you know we gotta
encourage people there's a lot there's people out there that can help sponsor and throw a couple
because these races put a lot of time in effort yeah definitely and they're not all local racers
you know i got guys coming from north cal i got jim lutz he comes from like organ like any comes
race so there's you know you got deep pockets and you guys average joes so i try to keep it
competitive and fun for everyone now well guys if you if you're out there you're listening you
want to throw some sponsorship money towards the real street stuff man that would definitely
be appreciated because guys put a lot of effort into it and it's always good good stuff to watch
we just gotta figure out how we can make sure everybody gets a chance to to see to see what's
happening to kind of bring that info to them so who knows we'll see what anything i can do to help
man i'm always here for you brother sounds good man i appreciate you hey i'm i'm i'm stoked we
got to come in you got to sit down and we have to kind of hear your story about we should i look i
didn't know about the notch earlier bro because the notch the notch i like the notch man down in
dirty man just just just a street bomber bro yeah it was it was it was well cool brother i
appreciate you for coming out and uh again bro happy birthday thank you man all right brother
all right see you later well if you like that podcast and i'm sure you did make sure you
subscribe and share this podcast with all the rest of your friends don't forget one crazy weekend
registration is open go and get your space reserved today if you're going to be part of a car club
that we're going to be parking people together there's a space where it says enter the name of
your car club this way we will group the car clubs all together so make sure you fill that out
and uh look forward to seeing you guys in october we're going to be coming up with some more stuff
to do uh with one crazy weekend as far as some of the shirt packages and stuff like that for
some of those that are not bringing cars down if you can't bring your car down but you want to
come down trust me it's going to be a blast anyway we've got the bowling tournament the poker
tournament the poker run the car show all the events all the nightlife happen the strip cruise
trust me you'll have a great time and there'll be plenty of people to connect with down there so
we will definitely make sure that everybody gets looked out for so until next week guys later
it's got everything that people who like the dog like
About this episode
Dino Mendoza, race director for the real street VW drag racing series, joins Bill T to cover how he got into Volkswagens, the evolution of real street, and the behind-the-scenes rules that keep the class fair. They break down real street’s pump-gas, carbureted engine limits, weight/stroke classes, fuel checks, and common “gray area” controversies (fuel cooling, driver swaps, scaling, and rule enforcement). Dino also shares his own 62 ragtop build and the season schedule (Barona dates plus a finale at Bugorama).
What does it really take to build a true street Volkswagen that can survive the cruise… and then go heads-up on the drag strip?
On this episode of Let's Talk Dubs, we sit down with Dino Mendoza — one of the driving forces behind the VW Real Street racing scene — to break down one of the most exciting and authentic forms of air-cooled Volkswagen drag racing happening today.
Dino gives us an inside look at how Real Street VW racing was built from the ground up, what separates it from traditional bracket racing, and why the rules—pump gas, all motor, carbureted, and mandatory street cruise—are what make this class so competitive and respected.
We dive deep into:
The origins and evolution of VW Real Street racing
What it takes to build a fast, reliable air-cooled VW drag car
Why "real street" means more than just a name
Engine combinations, tuning strategies, and common mistakes
The difference between heads-up drag racing vs bracket racing
Stories from the track and the people pushing the limits of street-driven Volkswagens
If you're into classic Volkswagen performance, VW drag racing, air-cooled engine builds, or street-driven race cars, this episode is packed with real-world knowledge straight from someone shaping the scene.
Whether you're building your own VW or just love the culture, this is one you don't want to miss.
